Roman Theatre at Fiesole: An Ancient Roman Performance Venue
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Medium
- Country
- Italy
- Primary era
- Classical
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Classical
- Civilizations
- Roman
- Site type
- Entertainment
- Remains
- Theatre
On this page6 sections
History
The Roman theatre at Fiesole in Italy was built by the Romans during the first century BC as part of Faesulae, the ancient city that developed from an Etruscan settlement. Its construction followed Rome’s conquest of Faesulae in 283 BC and the establishment of the city as a colonia, a Roman settlement with formal civic status, by Lucius Cornelius Sulla for Roman veterans.
From Faesulae to Roman civic centre
The theatre belonged to the urban fabric of Faesulae as the settlement was incorporated into the Roman world. Sulla’s veteran settlement shaped the city’s development and provided the historical setting for the theatre’s construction during the first century BC.
Imperial enlargement
The building was later enlarged and embellished under the emperors Claudius and Septimius Severus. Claudius ruled in the first century AD, while Septimius Severus governed in the late second and early third centuries AD, placing the theatre’s modifications within successive phases of Roman imperial rule.
Remains
Built against a hillside, the theatre used the natural slope to support its semicircular auditorium. The seating area was formed by concentric rows of stone benches crossed by stairways radiating through the cavea, the auditorium for spectators. It measured 34 metres across and could hold approximately 3,000 people.
Auditorium
The lower seating rows remain relatively well preserved, while the upper rows have been destroyed. Their arrangement around the curve of the hillside still expresses the theatre’s original organization and the way its construction adapted to the natural incline.
Stage building
The permanent stage building stood directly against the cavea. Its foundations are the surviving remains of this structure, defining the architectural position of the performance area behind the auditorium.
